J.B.M. Hertzog

James Barry Munuik Hertzog (6 April 1866-21 November 1942) was Prime Minister of South Africa from 30 June 1924 to 5 September 1939, interrupting Jan Smuts' two terms.

Biography
J.B.M. Hertzog was born in Soetendal, Cape Colony in 1866, and his belief in the value of the Dutch-derived Afrikaner language and culture was strengthened during his studies in the Netherlands, where he studied for a doctorate in law at the University of Amsterdam from 1889 to 1892. He returned to open a law practice in Pretoria, and in 1895 was appointed a judge in the Orange Free State. He became first a legal adviser and then a general of the OFS forces in the Second Boer War, and reluctantly became one of the signatories of the Peace of Vereeniging on 31 May 1902. A co-founder of the Orangia Unie Party in 1906, in the first postwar government he became responsible for education, where he became controversial for his support of the Afrikaans language. He took part in th enegotiations for South African union, and as a cultural leader of the Afrikaans-speaking people was included in Louis Botha's first cabinet. He opposed Botha's conciliatory attitude towards the English, however, and in early 1913 he was excluded from the cabinet, whereupon he left the South African Party to form the National Party. He opposed entry into World War I, and continued to appeal to Afrikaner nationalism in demanding the right to secede from the British Empire. His party won the 1924 elections, and thereafter realized an enhanced status for his country within the British Empire in 1926, introduced a new flag in 1927, and gave Afrikaans the status of an official language. He gained an absolute majority in the 1929 elections, but the Great Depression, and his decision to leave the Gold Standard in 1932 caused severe divisions in the NP.

In 1933, he agreed to join forces with Jan Smuts, with most of the NP and with the SAP, to form the United South African National Party in 1934, despite the ferocious opposition of Daniel Mlan. Hertzog's time in office was best known for his relentless and eventually successful campaign for the stepping-up of racial segregation, sealed by the passing of the Native Trust and Land Act and the Representation of Natives Act in 1936. These became the basis of the apartheid system. He was forced to resign because of his opposition of South Africa's entry into World War II, and he died in 1942.